Product, process, and channel complexity

Many financial services providers offer a diverse range of products and services from consumer and business banking to loans, investments, advisory services, credit cards, insurance, and more.

Those financial products and services all require identity verification, and often, initial checks and ongoing validation of credit history and/or product suitability.

For regulatory reasons, manual documentation and multiple internal touch points may be required during the application and approval processes. And the go-to-market for product sales can span multiple channels – online, mobile, branch, and possibly, through partnerships.

Providing the level of service that customers have become accustomed to can be a challenge given a complex product mix, required processes, and the need to maintain a high level of security and constant regulatory compliance. Yet, providing effective customer service, at an acceptable cost, is critical as poor customer service leads to customer dissatisfaction.

Balancing self-service with assisted support

Not all inquiries are created equally, and self-service support options reduce costs for financial services providers. Increasingly, when customers have inquiries, or issues arise, they attempt to resolve those issues themselves. According to Gartner, 88% of prime age (Millennials/Gen Z) customer service journeys begin in self-service.

(Table source: Gartner)

When an issue requires a transition from do-it-yourself-service to assisted support, 62% of those transitions are viewed as ‘high effort’ by customers and adversely affect the customer’s experience.

Getting the mix between self-service and assisted service right is extremely important:

74% of customers who experience an easy transition to assisted support will return to self-service for future inquiries
93% of customers report a positive CX when the self-service to assisted support transition works well
Customers who are effectively transitioned from self-service to assisted support spend 27% less time in assisted channels

The key to minimizing costs, while providing an optimal CX, is the effective use of voice solutions, and Interactive Voice Response (IVR) in particular.